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Funnyman Seth Rogen has become a better, more "emotionally available" partner to his wife after her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

The Knocked Up star's wife, screenwriter Lauren Miller, discovered her 55-year-old mom was suffering from the memory loss disorder shortly after she started dating Rogen and years before they wed in 2011, and the actor/writer admits the terrible news brought himself and his then-girlfriend closer.

During an interview on TV personality Meredith Vieira's daytime talk show on Tuesday (09Sep14), Miller said, "For me, it (mom's diagnosis) probably tore down all the walls I normally would have put up, because I had such strong heavy emotions early on in the relationship. And he stepped up right away; he was really able to show how sensitive he was early on."

Rogen added, "It really forced me to be a lot more emotionally available than I normally would be."

In fact, the funnyman admitted he had little to no knowledge of the disease, and was only aware of the "romanticised" version of Alzheimer's that he saw onscreen.

He revealed, "I didn't realize it could effect people so young. I thought generally it was reserved for grandparents and great grandparents. I honestly didn't realize there was nothing that could be done about it."

The couple has since founded the organization Hilarity for Charity, which raises money for Alzheimer's research, and Rogen even testified at a senate hearing for Alzheimer's research in February (14).